Illinois Budget 1.30.09

Friday

Jan 30, 2009 at 12:01 AMJan 30, 2009 at 1:36 PM

Illinois Budget 1.30.09

Here are the top Illinois stories coming today from GateHouse News Service. Stories are available at www.gatehousenewsservice.com. Please check www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/news in the evening for changes to story lineup, including breaking news.

If your paper has a story, digest item, opinion piece or standalone photo to share, please e-mail it to Illinois@gatehousemedia.com.

GateHouse newspapers go big on the Web for impeachment.
http://ghnewsroom.com/article/gatehouse-illinois-papers-go-big-web-impeachment

TODAY’S SPOTLIGHT:

Global epidemic has a local impact for AIDS fighters

PEORIA – Mike Maginn, 54, and his father, Ray, 83, collect old refrigerators, washers, dryers, televisions and beds and deliver them to people pushed into poverty, some to the brink of homelessness, by HIV/AIDS. "It's getting harder and harder for us to do these pickups," Maginn said, laughing about the physical part of his job. The cerebral part of his work, as executive director of Central Illinois FRIENDS of PWA (which stands for People with AIDS), includes lobbying state and federal legislators, working on grant proposals, managing a $650,000 annual budget, designing new programs and services, fundraising, listening and caring. By Clare Howard of the Peoria Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x977238912

STATEHOUSE INSIDER: By Doug Finke of the State Capitol bureau. Will be posted this evening for use Sunday.

QUINN'S CHALLENGES: The mood is jubilant. Fresh off of seeing Rod Blagojevich become Illinois' first governor impeached and removed from office, new Gov. Pat Quinn is getting a warm welcome at the Statehouse with the hope of brighter days to come. But Quinn faces serious challenges that could quickly sour that mood. By Ryan Keith of the State Capitol bureau. Will be posted this evening for use Sunday.

With:

QUINN ANALYSIS: What can Illinoisans expect to change under Gov. Pat Quinn? Look for an austere budget, probably a tax increase. Quinn will meet frequently with constitutional officers and legislators, he'll re-open state parks. But how many reforms can the old reformer make? Quinn's always been the outsider gadfly; the folks running the Legislature are, just as always, machine pols. By Chuck Sweeny of the Rockford Register Star. Will be posted this evening for use Sunday.

Daily:

State Briefs. News from around the state. Will be posted this evening.

EARLY PRIMARY: New Gov. Pat Quinn says he wants to push Illinois' primary election much further back in the year to shorten the campaign season and help officials better focus on the serious work facing them. By Adriana Colindres of the State Capitol bureau. Early version posted; will be updated.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x427656177

QUINN TRANSITION: In his first full day in office, Gov. Pat Quinn signs an executive order putting the ethics commission he created under the governor's control and talks more about his transition, from opening the governor's mansion to a Lincoln birthday party to reviewing personnel and budget matters. By Eric Naing and Andrew Thomason of the State Capitol bureau. Will be posted this evening.

Courses promote talks on evolution and creationism

SPRINGFIELD – Two hundred years after the birth of Charles Darwin, author of “The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,” the debate continues about how we came to be. To help people sort out their feelings and ideas about our origins, Springfield College/Benedictine University and the University of Illinois at Springfield have been offering a course on evolution and creationism. By Chris Young of the State Journal-Register.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x1841422837

License suspension doesn’t always stick

PEORIA – State law holds that drivers who refuse to take a Breathalyzer test after being stopped by police lose their license for a year, regardless of whether charges are filed in court or if they ultimately are acquitted. That's how it's stated in the Illinois secretary of state's "Rules of the Road" driving instruction book. That's not how it actually works, though, a fact that came to the public's attention this week after Tazewell County State's Attorney Stewart Umholtz declined to prosecute a Pekin police officer arrested in December on charges of driving under the influence. By Andy Kravetz of the Peoria Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x232967314

ILLINOIS BUSINESS
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois_business

Wind farms take shape in Illinois fields

LINCOLN – Traveling along Interstate 155 not far from its junction with Interstate 55, wind turbines — nearly as tall as a football field is long — create a striking vertical presence on a decidedly horizontal landscape. By Chris Young of the State Journal-Register.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x232967120

Caterpillar announces mass layoffs

PEORIA – Caterpillar Inc. said Friday it will lay off more than 2,000 full-time production employees from three Illinois facilities. More than 400 support and management personnel also will be let go, the company said. The layoffs will begin April 13, the company said. Under federal labor law, the company must give 60 days notice of a mass layoff. By Paul Gordon of the Peoria Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/news/business/x1841422709

BRIMFIELD – It's safe to say Ben Delaney has a rediscovered appreciation for tiny, plastic building blocks. The 12-year-old had long put away or sold his Lego sets from his younger years but last year found a new application - the robotics kind. Ben is one of nearly a dozen fifth- through eighth-graders at his school who last fall formed the "Brimbots," the school's first Lego League team, organized to design and build a robot to complete a series of tasks and compete against other schools' creations. Last month, the Brimbots took their combine-looking vehicle to a regional competition for the robot challenge, winning first prize and propelling them to the state competition in Arlington Heights about two weeks ago. By Dave Haney of the Peoria Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x222307408

Original Mötley Crüe back on tour

ROCKFORD – To Nikki Sixx, there’s a simple reason why Mötley Crüe is still going strong after nearly three decades. “We just refuse to die,” said the Crüe’s bass player during a phone interview last week. “I think bands have cycles. We lived through (bad) cycles. I believe we’re still doing good work. That’s what Aerosmith did, that’s what the Rolling Stones did.” Mötley Crüe’s 27-year odyssey as one of rock’s most celebrated acts brings its debauchery, mayhem and catalog of hits to the Rockford MetroCentre on Sunday, Feb. 15. By Paul Anthony Arco of the Rockford Register Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/entertainment/x232967176

BRITT: Toon on the economy.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/cartoons/x1796479052

Wood on Words: Before the big game, learn about ‘super’ and ‘bowl’

Apparently the plan is to actually play the game after two weeks of just talking about Super Bowl XLIII. “Super,” most useful as a prefix, also can be an abbreviation of “superintendent.” Informally, it’s also a modifier meaning “outstanding; exceptionally fine” or “great, extreme or excessive.” Appropriately enough, it’s super overused in these contexts.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/columnists/barry_wood/x1841422364

Elizabeth Davies: The library has it all

I have a confession to make: There’s an overdue library book under my bed. If you are my librarian, that confession shouldn’t come as any surprise. In fact, I’m fairly certain the library is thinking of naming its next addition “The Elizabeth Davies Overdue Fine Center.”
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/columnists/elizabeth_davies/x232966774

Dave Bakke: C'mon, Springfield, name something after Obama

Hempstead, N.Y., has done it. St. Louis has done it. Opa-Locka, Fla., did it. Naquera, Spain, is trying to do it. Tacoma, Wash., might do it. So might Cleveland. Do what? Name a street or school for Barack Obama. So what about Springfield?
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/regional_news/midwest/illinois/x33242631

Editorial: A well-deserved end to Blagojevich's tenure

No question about it, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich - the "former" already fits and feels right - is quite a persuasive guy. Indeed, in the unlikely event any Illinois senators were still on the fence regarding impeachment before Blagovich's plea-for-mercy speech on Thursday, they were plenty convinced afterwards that he had to go. An editorial from the Peoria Journal Star.
http://www.gatehousenewsservice.com/opinions/editorials/x882232705